Cager's Father Admits Taking Gifts

Published 6:00 pm, Tuesday, December 3, 2002

DETROIT (AP) _ The father of former Michigan basketball star Chris Webber acknowledged in testimony before a federal grand jury that he took gifts from a banned booster.

Mayce Webber Jr.'s admission in court documents was the first time he publicly acknowledged taking anything from Eddie Martin, who pleaded guilty in May to money laundering and admitted lending $616,000 to four former Michigan players, The Detroit News reported Wednesday.

Webber Jr., his son and sister-in-law, Charlene Johnson, were indicted in September for conspiring to obstruct justice and making a false statement to a grand jury. All three have pleaded innocent. Each charge is punishable by up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

Webber Jr. "acknowledged that Martin had given some gifts to him, and Martin put a hotel bill on a charge card and was paid back," his lawyer, Robert Morgan, said in a request last month in U.S. District Court that the indictment to be dismissed.

Morgan declined comment Tuesday.

Webber Jr. testified in June 2000.

According to the News, a university report said that Martin paid for a hotel room for an unidentified player's father and apparently was repaid in cash. Martin violated NCAA rules when he paid for the room.

Prosecutors said Martin gave the Webber family $280,000 between 1988 and 1993, but Webber Jr. denied the claims in March.

Now with the Sacramento Kings, Chris Webber told the grand jury in August 2000 that he took gifts from Martin in high school, but couldn't remember whether he took money while at Michigan, according to a partial transcript of his testimony.

Steven Levy, who represents Webber Jr.'s sister-in-law, Johnson, said she wouldn't accept any plea bargain and doubted any of the three defendants would plead guilty to a lesser offense.

Attorneys for the Webbers won't comment on possibilities of a plea bargain.

U.S. District Judge Nancy Edmunds will meet with attorneys Monday to decide when to hear defense motions calling for the prosecution's indictment to be thrown out.

Keith Corbett, head of the U.S. attorney's organized crime strike force in Detroit, said if the trials were scheduled during the NBA season, Webber would still be expected to show up.

The government may seek to delay Martin's Feb. 20 sentencing until after he testifies at a criminal trial.